The sound of the warp pad activating alerted Steven to the arrival of a Gem. He looked around his TV and stood up.
"Pearl!" the pale Gem cringed and looked back at him with a forced grin on her face, trying to feign happiness. "Where have you been?"
"Looking for Peridot!" she said, retreating inwards and crossing her arms. Steven rushed down from his bedroom and ran up to her. "For a few days straight." The boy's face reflected concern as Pearl's voice changed.
"Steven, I know I might have... disappointed... all of you." She looked him in the eyes, and he immediately saw the intense pain she was in. She attempted a smile. "I know Garnet's very upset with me. But I'm going to prove to her that she can trust me again-"
The sound of the door opening cut her off. Garnet stepped through the door and Steven caught a flash of panic in Pearl's eyes before she ran forward in front of Garnet.
"Oh, Garnet! I was just looking for Peridot!" she said, pausing for a second, hoping that she would get some kind of reaction from the fusion. A nod, an 'mhm,' anything. When she didn't, Pearl kept talking.
"She's bound to be out there somewhere, right? Any new ideas?" She tried to keep her voice steady, like it was just another day and she hadn't betrayed her friend's trust only a few days before.
Garnet stared at her for a few seconds, then turned and walked around her like she was just a pile of trash she had to avoid. Pearl deflated, looking down at the ground and letting her happy demeanor fade.
"I'm sorry..." Steven could almost hear her voice crack, like she was on the verge of tears. Garnet paused, and it seemed like she was going to say something before another voice from outside approached rapidly.
"Who wants to go on a road trip?!" Greg threw the door open, holding a brochure up in the air and looking quite proud of himself. All three of the Gems looked at him, and Pearl and Steven cringed, and he immediately toned down a bit. "Um... is this a bad time?"
Garnet turned back all the way and walked up to him, her voice warm. "No, please continue."
Feeling the mood shift back into a more comfortable place, he spoke easily. "Well I gotta drive over to the next state, Keystone. I met a guy on an internet message board who's selling car wash brushes for real cheap! I just gotta meet him in Keystone to pick them up!" He looked happy and a bit proud.
Steven wrinkled his nose. "I don't like those things. They feel weird on your fur." Greg wasn't deterred.
"Well, do you like motels?"
He smiled. "Probably!"
"Think you'd like to stay at a motel with your favorite dad?" Steven put his hand to his chin and stroked it, as if in deep thought.
"I don't know if you're my favorite..." he lifted his nose in the air. Greg raised an eyebrow in confusion, then realized his son was joking.
"Oh, you kidder, c'mere!" Steven ran to him and leapt into his father's arms excitedly.
"I can't wait to get room service!" he said, and Greg shook his head.
"You're thinking of a hotel. We're going to a motel. It'll have a pool, and free ice, and it's right next to the best diner in the world!"
Garnet took another step forward. "I'm coming too."
"What?!" Pearl looked at her with surprise.
Steven, hearing this, gasped in happiness. "Even better!
Greg mimicked Pearl, and spoke behind his hand while Steven kept babbling about how excited he was.
"Hey, Garnet, I know I'm talking this place up, but, it ain't exactly the Ritz..."
The magenta Gem smiled. "I'll be the judge of that."
"Well, in that case..." he looked at his son and grinned. "Road trip!"
"Road trip!" Steven echoed, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Road trip." Garnet monotonously said.
"Wonderful! I'll make sure Amethyst knows that... ah..." Pearl was completely ignored by the other Gem as she walked out of the house. "Fine... Well, uh, goodbye!" She waved to the two of them, before turning and walking towards the temple door.
Steven turned to his father and smiled, trying to wipe the scared look from his face. "This is gonna be fun, right Dad?"
"Yeah... alright, why don't you pack some clothes and I'll go make sure I didn't forget anything, ok? Meet me in the van." Steven lept out of Greg's arms and he took no time to run back up to his room, switch off the TV he had left on, and shoving a few clothes and other things into his cheeseburger backpack.
The temple door opened again, and both Pearl and Amethyst stepped out.
"Hey, where're you going, Steven?" Amethyst jumped up onto the couch and climbed onto the back to be eye level with his floor.
"Me and Dad and Garnet are going on a road trip!" he said excitedly as he zipped his back shut, bounced down the stairs and ran out the door.
The house was left in relative silence as Pearl ventured up to clean up the mess that Steven had just made, and Amethyst went into the kitchen for a snack.
The young Gem started pulling everything from the fridge and throwing it onto the counter, intending on making a killer sandwich. Too bad Pearl never ate, cause Amethyst wanted to share the experience of it with someone!
She slammed the fridge shut after emptying it of almost all its edible contents and started throwing things together, placing things like tomato and lettuce and raw eggs in between bread slices. In her mind she made it a game to see how many layers she could add until it toppled over. She intentionally ignored Pearl upstairs as she moved around. Folding clothes, wrapping Steven's video game controllers cords up neatly and putting them away.
Then she bent down and picked up a scrap piece of paper and flipped it over. Her eyes widened and she fell to her knees, wrapping her arms around herself and letting the paper flutter down to Amethyst's level, trying to hide a sob.
At first, the purple Gem was going to let this go. Pearl hadn't been stable at all after what happened and oftentimes she would peek into the other Gem's room through her own to find her lying down and crying her heart out. It killed Amethyst to see Pearl, Pearl, of all Gems to be like that, but she never said anything. The next time Pearl would show her face, she would smile and act like nothing was wrong. She didn't want anyone to see her like that- broken, weak, crying- so Amethyst respected that.
However, eventually her curiosity got the better of her and she went to look at the paper that caused this immediate breakdown. Once she saw exactly what it was, her stomach leapt into her throat and she swallowed hard to keep her lunch down.
It was a drawing Steven had done, seemingly before the truth was revealed, as it showed Garnet and Pearl's fusion, the 'lovely Sardonyx' using her warhammer to disassemble the communication tower. It made all the pieces click in Amethyst's head, and without realizing it she was running up to Pearl and kneeling next to her. She didn't say anything; rather, she just wanted Pearl to feel her presence. To know someone was there...
"I'm so sorry!" She wailed, trying to stop the flow of tears but instead just making them worse. Amethyst drooped at the sound of her cracking voice, and before she knew it her arms were around the older Gem and her shirt was soaked with salty tears.
"I ruined everything! I just... I just wanted to feel happy for a little longer! I wanted to be complete!" Pearl cried into Amethyst's shoulder, and the words stung her. It was exactly how she felt, or at least, what she had desired when she saw Pearl and Garnet fuse.
"I know..." she murmured, and Pearl paused, leaning back. Her eyes met the other Gem's and she wiped away tears from her bloodshot eyes.
"Amethyst... I... I have to know... why did you jump in?" The question was clear without context, as the moment had been running around in the younger Gem's mind since it happened.
Why did she jump in and try to defend what Pearl did? She knew it was wrong... she knew fusion was sacred for Garnet, considering her history, and she should have known that anything she said would be pointless. Garnet had been raging mad, and a younger, less mature Amethyst would have enjoyed seeing Pearl thrown off her high horse and put in her place. But now...
"I dunno... I guess I just... understood how you felt." Pearl's eyes widened, and she blinked.
"Really?"
Amethyst nodded. "Yeah. I don't think what you did was good, but... I understood." The pale Gem took a shuddery breath and looked away, towards the wall and she smiled slightly.
"The power, the emotions, the... love... it felt amazing. But now... I'll never feel it again."
Amethyst looked around and saw, above Steven's headboard, a few more drawings he had done tacked up on the wall. Drawings of him and Connie, of their fusion, his dad, of Sugilite and...
"Pearl... Stand up." She told the tall Gem, and after a few moments she complied. Taking her hand, Amethyst lead her down the stairs and turned to face her when they were in clear space.
"What're you doing?" Pearl asked as Amethyst grabbed both of her hands and looked down at the ground. She didn't say anything; instead she took one step forward, putting slight pressure against Pearl's arms to make her step back too. Then she brought her foot back, and the tall Gem started catching on. Pearl tried to pull away.
"Amethyst, we shouldn't! If Garnet finds out she'll be furious!"
"Who cares what Garnet thinks? She's not here anyways, and we both want to feel powerful! So why not?"
"Amethyst... If she finds out why we did this..."
"She won't"
"Amethyst, if she finds out why..."
"She can't judge! Ruby and Sapphire started out wanting to fuse because they liked the feeling!"
"Exactly! She'll think we're mocking her, and then she'll be just as mad at you as she is me! And... someone needs to be on her good side..." Tears started filling Pearl's eyes and she tried to pull away. Instead of letting her, Amethyst mimicked the action, causing both of them to be facing the same way. With a smirk, the smaller Gem pulled Pearl back, and she spun into her waiting arms. Her head brushed the ground and her nose was touching Amethyst's.
She had a smirk on her face, and the look in her eyes made Pearl feel like the world was perfect, like Garnet wasn't mad at her and the temple wasn't full of awkward words floating in the air, unspoken but assumed.
"I told you, I don't care what Garnet thinks. Fusion isn't just for her." This calmed Pearl's nerves, and she nodded the tiniest bit, letting Amethyst take the lead.
She pulled back up to her feet and spun away, getting ready for their actual dance. Pearl took a delicate stance and watched as Amethyst shook her shoulders and hips in her weird dance form. For once, it didn't annoy her. She twirled towards Amethyst and eventually their bodies glowed bright and came together into one single tall, pale form.
Opal took in a deep breath and smiled slightly, feeling the Gem's light inside her continue their dance without tiring, finding their stride. She felt stronger than any other time they had fused, and Opal knew now that that was because they understood each other in a way that they never had before.
The fusion headed for the temple, and both the gem on her chest and her forehead glowed, revealing a weird combination of each of the individual Gem's rooms.
"I like this feeling... So do I... Let's stay together for a while..." Opal mused, Pearl and Amethyst talking out loud to each other. She nodded and stepped into the temple, letting the door shut behind her.
The next day, Opal was reclining on the couch with one pair of arms behind her head and the other resting on her stomach. Then she started shining brightly, and Amethyst and Pearl reappeared, with the purple Gem on top of the other.
"W-What was that? Didn't you want to stay fused longer?" Amethyst asked. Pearl hadn't shown any sign of wanting to defuse, but she had been the one to break the connection.
"I'm sorry, Amethyst. I just... don't want Garnet to know. She's angry enough at me, I don't want her to think I'm too weak to deal with this on my own."
"P, she doesn't think that at all!" Pearl just shook her head and sat up, with Amethyst falling backwards off of the couch.
"Oh, I'm sorry Amethyst!"
"I'm fine! But, Pearl, come on! You and Garnet have to make up sometime, right? Please, you two just need to talk it out." Amethyst steadied her voice when she that yelling wasn't getting her anywhere, and without thinking she brushed her hair out of her eye. Pearl sat up and looked at the table, wringing her hands.
"I can't, Amethyst. I... I just have to work harder to find Peridot. That's the only way I can make it up to her."
The purple Gem sighed and pushed away the part of hair that usually covered her left eye, matching Pearl's gaze with a calm one of her own. "I think you two just need to talk. How will finding Peridot help?"
"I... I... don't know. But talking isn't going to change anything. She's not going to listen. And anyways, I..." Pearl broke off as Steven ran through the door.
"We're hooooome!" Amethyst let her hair fall back into place and Pearl smiled - an incredibly fake smile that curled the purple Gem's toes.
"You look like you all had fun!" she said with fake cheer, her body tensing when a dark, tall gem loomed behind the other two. "Garnet... how are you?"
"Not now," the fusion said simply before walking past them and heading into the temple. Pearl's face spoke her shock louder than words could.
"She's speaking to me again..." Pearl said incredulously. hen she amended her statement. "Kind of..."
On the floor, Amethyst watched the tall gem walk away. There was something different about her... besides the fact that she just spoke to Pearl. She seemed less... discordant than when she left. The young gem could feel the tension leaking out of the room like a slow leak in a tire.
"That really was a great trip." Greg mused to himself. Steven beamed up at his father.
"Can we go back!?" he chuckled and mused his hair.
"Maybe someday. But not to that diner." Amethyst and Pearl grinned at how uncomfortable he looked. "Oh boy..."